I set up shop 4 years ago in my single car garage and immediately set to work on some built in bookshelves. Bad idea! With no organization and stuff everywhere it is amazing those bookshelves ever got finished. After stumbling about for another year, I finally rolled all the machines and wood out the garage door on a warm and dry Spring day and started from scratch. All the cabinetry is custom made and you can probably tell that like most of you I am a woodophile. I admit that I probably dedicated too much space to wood storage and now that I am acquiring more tools I wish that I had more space. I still have some more things to do like finishing up the cabinet doors on the base cabinets and adding some rolling work stations for sanding and the like.

Definately a work in progress, but it is still my favorite room in the house.

**Edit on 9/8/08: So I have made some big changes in the shop since I posted this last year. Check out my latest podcast on my blog. I have included a short video of the shop and discuss my future plans.

Thanks Gary. The red was my wife’s idea and it is a definate improvement over the yellow green it was when we bought the house. She wanted to go all the way to curtains in the windows, but we compromised with a bright color instead.

-- The Hand Tool School is Open for Business! Check out my blog and podcast "The Renaissance Woodworker" at www.renaissancewoodworker.com

I am catching up on posts I have missed. Sorry I didn’t get this one originally. You shop looks well organized. I could work in there. It’s a little too clean for me but I am sure you cleaned it up just for the pics.

I think that being a woodophile is inherent to being a woodworker. Good idea of standing your ground on the curtains after all this is your space (at least as long as she allows it).

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Yes, I did clean it for the pix. I am trying to keep as much as I can in cabinets to keep the dust off, but the shop also acts as “daycare” for my German Shepherd and my Golden Retriever during the work day. They both can get a little bored sometimes and decide to play with the tools. They show no interest in the wood or projects in process, but like to chew on things like power cords and plastic drawer pulls or caps to the TS fence. Long story short, I have to puppy proof at the end of the weekend and I figure I might as well vacuum while I’m at it. Just to show I am human, I’ll post a shot midway through my next big project so you can really see what it looks like.

-- The Hand Tool School is Open for Business! Check out my blog and podcast "The Renaissance Woodworker" at www.renaissancewoodworker.com

To all those who think the shop is too clean and the proof of my last post. This is what happens when I accidentally leave a roll of paper towels on the table saw during the day. Notice the missing plug on the shop vac as well. I forgot to coil it and hang it up. Anyone interested in a Golden Retriever puppy?

Now do you see why I clean up so often, it is not just because I am anal retentive!

-- The Hand Tool School is Open for Business! Check out my blog and podcast "The Renaissance Woodworker" at www.renaissancewoodworker.com